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GeoActivity1. 3 tH E A M A ZO N R IVE R

Use with South America Geography & History, Section 1.3, in your textbook.

Go to Interactive Whiteboard GeoActivities at mynGconnect.com to complete this activity online.

1. Categorize Fill in the Venn diagram with details from your reading.compare the Amazon and nile riversBoth the Amazon and Nile rivers are over 4,000 miles in length. Review what you have learned about the Amazon River in your textbook. Read the following passage about the Nile and then compare the rivers using a Venn diagram.

the nile riverThe Nile begins near the equator in the highlands of East Africa. Flowing north from Lake Victoria, the river passes through Uganda, Sudan, and Egypt before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea. In all, the Nile drains about 1.3 million square miles of land.

The Nile River Basin includes tropical rain forests, woodlands, grasslands, and swamps. In Egypt, the Nile flows through the desert. The river supports farming, which is the livelihood of many people in Egypt and Sudan.

Since the 1800s, dams have been built on the river to control the flow of water and provide hydroelectric power. The largest is the Aswan High Dam in Egypt. Since 1970 this dam has stopped the Nile’s yearly flooding, which enriched the soil and made it good for farming. Egyptian farmers now rely on fertilizers to enrich the soil.

The Nile faces the challenges of population growth. Two major cities on the Nile are Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, and Cairo, the capital of Egypt. Cairo is the center of an urbanized region of more than 16 million people. In Egypt, the population density along the Nile is more than 5,000 people per square mile. That is one of the highest in the world.

Similarities

nile riverAmazon river

2. Synthesize The Amazon River supports life in the rain forest. In what ways does the Nile support life?

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1. 2 L I F E At D I F F E RE Nt E LE VAt I O N S

Use with South America Geography & History, Section 1.2, in your textbook.

Go to Interactive Whiteboard GeoActivities at mynGconnect.com to complete this activity online.

SEC tION G E OG R APH Y

GeoActivity

5. Make Inferences What crops would you expect Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to produce in addition to sugarcane? Why?

6. Make Inferences Which altitude zone is best for growing coffee beans? Would potatoes grow well in that zone, too? Why or why not?

7. Make Inferences Guanacos are hardy animals that live on grasses and can go for long periods without water. How do these traits help them adapt to the altitude zone in which they live?

identify Altitude Zones in South AmericaThese photographs show different uses of land in South America. Match each photo with an altitude zone on the chart. Then answer the questions.

Harvesting potatoes in the Andean Highlands; elevation: 11,811 feet; temperature: 50°F

Altitude Zone

Harvesting sugarcane in Santa Cruz, Bolivia; elevation: 1,365 feet; temperature: 90°F

Altitude Zone

Picking coffee berries in Chinchina, Colombia; elevation: 4,462 feet; temperature: 72°F

Altitude Zone

Grazing guanacos in the Chilean Andes; elevation: 13,000 feet; temperature: 31°F

Altitude Zone

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Altitude

Zone

climAte elevAtion

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cropS

Tierra Calientehot; adequate to

extreme rainfall0 to 2,500 feet

bananas, peppers,

sugarcane, cacao

Tierra Templadawarm; adequate

rainfall

2,500 to

6,000 feet

corn, beans,

wheat, coffee,

vegetables

Tierra Fria cool; some rainfall6,000 to

12,000 feet

wheat, barley,

potatoes

Tierra Helada cold; little rainfall12,000 to

15,000 feet

no substantial

crops

Source: H.J. deBlij, The World Today: Concepts and Regions in Geography. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2009, p. 150.

South American Altitude Zones

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